Survey rod

ABSTRACT

A lightweight survey rod assembly which includes an elongate hollow formed of fusible plastic and having visible survey indicia graduations carried in the external surface of the hollow member. The lower end of the hollow member is sized and shaped to accommodate the upwardly extending exposed end of a survey stake to support the rod in substantially vertical position, facilitating one-man surveying operations. In one embodiment, a second hollow member is coaxially telescoped within the hollow member described above and manually displaceable resilient stop means formed in the outer member are provided to releasably position the inner hollow member at a fully telescoped position and at a raised position.

Felixi [451 Feb l, 1972 [54] SURVEY ROD Paul A. Felix, PO. Box 32, Coolidge, Ariz. 85228 22] Filed: 0ct.13,l969

21] Appl.No.: 865,671

[72] lnventor:

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 513,091 10/1939 Great Britain ..52/632 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Hull Attorney-Charles E. Cates ABSTRACT A lightweight survey rod assembly which includes an elongate hollow formed of fusible plastic and having visible survey indicia graduations carried in the external surface of the hollow member. The lower end of the hollow member is sized and shaped to accommodate the upwardly extending exposed end of a survey stake to support the rod in substantially vertical position, facilitating one-man surveying operations. In one embodiment, a second hollow member is coaxially telescoped within the hollow member described above and manually dis placeable resilient stop means formed in the outer member are provided to releasably position the inner hollow member at a fully telescoped position and at a raised position.

1 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB! I972 3.638.317

'JIIn-IETII i ul-nurouoonn-l umnu INVENTOR. PAULA. FELIX BY 49W ATTORNEYS SURVEY ROD This invention relates to surveying apparatus.

More particularly, the invention concerns a novel survey rod assembly of improved portability for making level and stadia determinations.

A- further aspect of the invention concerns a survey rod assembly which is especially adapted for use in one-man surveying operations.

In still another aspect, the invention relates to improved survey rod apparatus which is lighter, has improved resistance to warping and which is less expensive than conventional survey rods.

In yet another aspect, the invention relates to a survey rod in which the survey indicia graduations are permanently embedded in and form an integral part of the structure of the rod assembly to thereby prevent scratching, abrasion or other mechanical damage to the indicia.

In the case of any survey rod such as a level rod'or stadia rod, it is important that the survey graduations be accurately spaced and that the survey rodbe ruggedly constructed-to withstand warping or other physical damage when subjected I to the extremes of weather and rough handling during typical surveying operations. Consequently, prior art survey rods were constructed of dense, very strong wood materials such as mahogany provided with strong brass or steel bindings and fittings and massively constructed latches in the case of extendable rods. Typically, the cross section of the prior art survey rod was shaped so as to provide outwardly extending flanges such that the survey graduations could be printed or otherwise affixed to the rod between the protective flanges so as to reduce the chance that the graduations would be marred or otherwise damaged during use or storage of the survey rod. Thus, the prior art survey rods were generally heavy and therefore cumbersome and burdensome to carry and operate and, in addition, were distinctly expensive. Additionally, the prior art extendable survey rods were somewhat dangerous because breakage of the hinges or hardware caused the rod to collapse, endangering the fingers and hands of the rodman.

In recent times, it has become increasingly necessary to perform minor surveying operations under conditions which make it uneconomical to employ a fully staffed survey crew. For example, in order to insure that irrigation water will be uniformly distributed over crop land, it is necessary to make rather crude level determinations at various points in the irrigated field. These level determinations should be made frequently, usually at least yearly, as the crop land is repeatedly tilled during the growing season, thus introducing minor variations in the elevation at various points in the field. Such crude surveying would be greatly facilitated and would be much less expensive if it could be performed by a single person rather than the minimum-sized, two-man crew usually employed in level determination survey operations.

Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved survey rod assembly which is lightweight and inexpensive in comparison to prior art survey rods, which is especially adapted for use in one-man survey operations, in which the survey graduations are protected against abrasion and other mechanical damage and which is safer and less tiring to use than prior art rods.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a survey rod assembly of improved portability;

Another object of the invention is to provide a survey rod assembly which is safer and less expensive to manufacture;

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a survey rod having increased resistance to warping;

Still another object of the invention islto provide a survey rod assembly especially adapted for use in pne-man survey;

operations;

These and other, further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings, in-which:

FIG. 1 depicts a survey rod embodying the features of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the'survey rod of FIG. I taken along section line 2-2 thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the rod assembly of FIGS. I and 2 illustrating certain internal features thereof.

Briefly, in accordance with my invention, I provide a survey rod assembly of improved portability for making level and stadia determinations and which is especially adapted for use in one-man survey operations. The survey rod assembly comprises an opaque, elongate hollow member formed of fusible plastic material, the hollow member having upper and lower ends and internal and external surfaces. Visible survey indicia graduations are carried in the external surface of the hollow member and means are provided which define an aperture in the lower end of the hollow member. The aperture is sized and shaped to accommodate the upwardly extending exposed end of a survey stake within the hollow member to thereby support the rod assembly in a substantially vertical position upon the ground.

In a presently preferred embodiment, the survey rod assembly described above includes a second hollow member, the cross-sectional dimensions of which are sized to permit the second hollow member to be coaxially telescoped within the first hollow member. Thus, the second hollow member can be moved within the first hollow member from a telescoped position nested within the first hollow member to a raisedposition in which the second hollow member is extended coaxially upwardly from its telescoped position to render the survey indicia graduations on its external surface visible for surveying operations. Stop means are provided in the wall of one of the hollow members for releasably positioning the second hollow member at its telescoped position and at its raised position.

Turning now to the drawings, which depict presently preferred embodiments of the invention chosen for purposes of illustration, FIG. 1 shows a hollow cylindrical survey rod 10 constructed in accordance with the invention and bearing visible survey indicia graduations 11 which are carried in the external surface of the cylindrical member 10. In the preferred embodiment, the rod member I1 is formed by extruding polyvinyl chloride plastic in the manner conventionally employed in the fabrication of plastic pipe to provide a rod having an outside diameter of approximately 2% inches and a wall thickness of approximately one-eighth inch. The rod is typically dimensioned at about 7 feet in length such that an extendable rod constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention, when extended, forms a survey rod l2 feet long. The dimensions mentioned above, however, are not critical and are mentioned only to illustrate a typical rod embodying the features of my invention. As schematically illustrated in FIG. I, a level instrument 12 positioned at a point remote from the rod 10 is employed to observe the graduations I1 during the survey operations.

In a preferred embodiment, I provide an extendable survey rod in which a second hollow member 13 (referring to FIGS. 2 and 3) is coaxially slip fit within the outer hollow member II). The inner hollow member 13 is also provided with survey indicia graduations carried in its external surface 14, which graduations consecutively register with the graduations II on the external surface of the outer hollow member 10 when the inner hollow member 13 is telescoped upwardly to its raised position.

Any suitable means may be provided to releasably position fthe inner hollow member 13 at its telescoped and raised positions. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, I provide a detent I5 v iformed integrally in the wall of the outer member I0. The "resiliency of the polyvinyl chloride plastic from which the outer member [0 is formed normally urges the detent IS inthat when it is desired to lower the inner member 13 to its telescoped position, the operator may deflect the detent l5 outwardly in the direction of the arrow B. permitting the inner member 13 to slide downwardly to its telescoped positionQ- lf desired, a similar oppositely directed detent may be provided in that portion of the outer hollow member which extends above the inner hollow member 13 when it is fully telescoped to maintain the inner hollow member 13 in its telescoped position such that the lower end of the inner hollow member 13 is retained between such upper detent a shoulder 17 formed in the lower end of the outer member 10.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower end 10a of the outer member. 10 is open such that the entire assembly can be supported in a substantially vertical position by the upwardly extending end 18 of a typical lathe-type survey stake 19. When so supported, level or stadia determinations can be made by one person operating the survey instrument 12, rather than by the normal two-man crew composed of a rodman and an instrument operator.

In the drawings, a survey rod assembly of cylindrical cross section is illustrated; however, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the survey rod assembly could be formed in almost any cross section, including triangular or rectangular cross sections, with the inner hollow member being correspondingly shaped and dimensioned to be slip fit therewithin.

Another important feature of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 which shows that the survey indicia graduations 11 are actually embedded and carried in the outer surface of the hollow members 10 and 13. In practice, the survey indicia graduations ll (the thickness of which is greatly exaggerated for clarity of illustration) are first prepared in the form of a plastic decal which is then fused directly into the outer surfaces of the hollow members 10 and I3 after they are formed by extrusion as explained above.-ln this way, the graduations actually are formed and become an integral part of the said outer surfaces and are extremely resistant to mechanical damage through abrasion, scratching, etc.

Having fully described my invention and the presently preferred embodiments thereof, I claim:

I. A survey rod assembly of improved portability for making level and stadia determinations and which is adapted for use in one-man survey operations, said survey rod assembly comprising: 7

a. an opaque, elongate, first hollow member formed of plastic material, said first hollow member having upper and lower ends, an internal surface, and an external surface, b. visible survey indicia graduations carried by said external surface; c. means defining an aperture in said lower end of said first hollow member sized and shaped to accommodate the upwardly extending exposed end of a survey stake within said first hollow member to thereby support said rod assembly in a substantially vertical position; d. said first hollow member having in the wall thereof at least one opening, said opening adapted to provide a fingerhole providing access to the interior of said first hollow member; e. a second hollow member having survey indicia graduations carried by its external surface, the cross-sectional dimensions of which are sized to permit said second hollow member to be coaxially telescoped within the first said hollow member and to be moved therein from a telescoped position in which said second hollow member is nested within said first hollow member to a raised position in which said second hollow member is extended coaxially upward from its telescoped position to render the survey indicia graduations at the external surface thereof visible for surveying operations; and

f. Detent means integrally formed in the upper end of said first hollow member, said detent means being so forme d that the natural resiliency of the plastic from which said first hollow member is formed urges said detent means inwardly against said second hollow member, whereby the bottom portion of said second hollow member is sup ported by said detent means when said second hollow member is extended upwardly to render the survey indicia graduations on the external surface thereof visible, said detent means being disposed in relationship to said opening in said first hollow member such that the opening provides access to the detent for deflecting said detent outwardly from its engagement with the bottom of said second hollow member to permit said second hollow member to be telescoped within said first hollow member. 

1. A survey rod assembly of improved portability for making level and stadia determinations and which is adapted for use in one-man survey operatiOns, said survey rod assembly comprising: a. an opaque, elongate, first hollow member formed of plastic material, said first hollow member having upper and lower ends, an internal surface, and an external surface, b. visible survey indicia graduations carried by said external surface; c. means defining an aperture in said lower end of said first hollow member sized and shaped to accommodate the upwardly extending exposed end of a survey stake within said first hollow member to thereby support said rod assembly in a substantially vertical position; d. said first hollow member having in the wall thereof at least one opening, said opening adapted to provide a fingerhole providing access to the interior of said first hollow member; e. a second hollow member having survey indicia graduations carried by its external surface, the cross-sectional dimensions of which are sized to permit said second hollow member to be coaxially telescoped within the first said hollow member and to be moved therein from a telescoped position in which said second hollow member is nested within said first hollow member to a raised position in which said second hollow member is extended coaxially upward from its telescoped position to render the survey indicia graduations at the external surface thereof visible for surveying operations; and f. Detent means integrally formed in the upper end of said first hollow member, said detent means being so formed that the natural resiliency of the plastic from which said first hollow member is formed urges said detent means inwardly against said second hollow member, whereby the bottom portion of said second hollow member is supported by said detent means when said second hollow member is extended upwardly to render the survey indicia graduations on the external surface thereof visible, said detent means being disposed in relationship to said opening in said first hollow member such that the opening provides access to the detent for deflecting said detent outwardly from its engagement with the bottom of said second hollow member to permit said second hollow member to be telescoped within said first hollow member. 